Histoires / Histories - Exhibition Catalogue An exhibition Catalogue designed for artist Mario Doucette. The work tackles Acadian history in Canada, particularly the expulsion of Acadians from the Maritimes in the mid 1700s. This revises the official (i.e. victorious British colonial) version taught in every Canadian school. Mario also applies the same darkly humorous approach to First Nations history, speculating in paint on the possibilities of a First Nations crusade to Europe. Doucette’s use of a vernacular or folk style, with its seemingly untutored innocence and unaffected appeal, lends a disarming accessibility and sense of truth to his vision. The charm of his whimsical drawing, refreshing palette and naive rendering so at odds with his subject matter, makes Doucette’s biting presentation of the human cost of colonialism all the more cutting. The exhibition was first shown at the Esplanade Arts & Heritage Centre. |